Helltime Hunter

The Helltime Hunter is the first boss fight in Doom 3: Resurrection of Evil, and the first of the three Hell Hunters. It is encountered in a teleporter portal in Erebus - Level 2: Erebus Dig Site, flanked by two automatic sentry guns. As the player enters the area, the Maledict will taunt the player and the portal activates. Several Forgotten Ones emerge from the portal and are destroyed by plasma balls fired by the sentry guns, and then the Helltime Hunter appears. The fate of the Forgotten Ones provides a clue on how to defeat the Helltime Hunter.

The Helltime Hunter resembles a hovering Hell knight without legs, its lower body perpetually engulfed in flames.

After being tasked by the Maledict to hunt the Artifact, the Helltime Hunter is the first Hunter who confronts the Marine. It is encountered in front of a hell portal near the excavations. As this Hunter appears, the Maledict says that the Marine has met his death, so he is quite convinced that the Hunter can cope with the soldier.

Once defeated, the player's Artifact will be usable and will have the Helltime power absorbed from the Hunter, allowing the player to manipulate time to their advantage. However, the Maledict will taunt the player again and proclaim that this fight has just begun.

Combat characteristics
The Hunter is capable of moving from place to place extremely quickly, but motion lines will appear to give a hint to its direction. The Hunter will only perform its attacks when it is stationary. Its attacks include swift melee strikes, individual thrown fireballs, and a swarm of fireballs hurled at once. All of its projectiles can be avoided by strafing sideways.

It attacks by throwing fireballs that do as much damage as an Imp's, but if it gets close to the player, it can also rake him with its claws as well. The Helltime Hunter also has a special attack in which it hurls a swarm of several fireballs at the player all at once; this fireball swarm can be dodged by sprint-running sideways.

The Hunter is immune to the player's conventional weaponry. There is only one way it can be harmed, namely to use the Ionized Plasma Levitator to seize the plasma projectiles fired by the automatic sentry guns and fire them at the Hunter. It requires four to five plasma balls to defeat the Hunter.

The player has infinite stamina during this battle, just the same as when the player is in Hell or fighting the cyberdemon near the Hell Hole in the caverns.

Tactical analysis
The Ionized Plasma Levitator is the only weapon of any use in this battle. The automatic sentry guns will fire a plasma projectile every few seconds, alternating between one turret and the other. The battle is essentially a matter of dodging the Hunter's attacks while waiting for a plasma ball to be fired by the turrets, then seizing it with the grabber and firing it at the Hunter. The Hunter's fireballs can be dodged by strafing, or intercepted by your grabber (although they don't damage the Hunter if they're launched back at it). Be advised that the Hunter can move extremely quickly, and if it finishes its movement close to the player then it can deliver a swift melee strike; this is particularly dangerous on Nightmare difficulty, capable of killing the player instantly. The Hunter's movement is telegraphed by motion lines, giving the player a hint of its direction and a little warning to scramble away from its destination.

Trivia

 * Even if the player were to use cheats to give themselves more powerful weaponry such as the BFG9000, it would be no use against the Helltime Hunter.
 * The Helltime Hunter is one of two enemies in the Doom 3 games which can only be harmed by a specific weapon, the first being the cyberdemon.